Fixing up our second home, one project after another.

Baseboards + more.

We have over 500 linear feet of baseboards. And, I painted all of it this past week. Twice.

I might have ruined my left knee, hip, and elbow; along with my right shoulder, forearm, wrist and hand.

I spent 16+ hours on those gorgeous, (really hard) wood floors. I felt every single moment of it.

But, the baseboards look good. And I learned a couple things.

1 – I’m going to start priming for real, not just for instances.

2 – Good paint is totally worth it.

Previously, I only primed in spots I had to. But I also usually did two coats of paint. This time, I’m priming EVERYTHING, and doing two coats of paint as needed. Oh, and I’ll be buying the good paint.

Our first house looks good. I’m happy with the colors and the finish of the paint. But sometimes, I go places that have really nice paint on the walls and wonder how they got their paint to look so much better. Some of it can’t be helped – the walls, surfaces, lighting, etc. – but, some of it is better paint and techniques. I’m now a firm believer that good paint adds a lot of depth and quality to the finished product. And, well, those workers at the specialty paint stores, they know their paint better than the big box store personnel. (Most anyway, but not all … isn’t that the case with everything though?)

For now, just the baseboards are finished. All the way around the house. Literally, every closet, nook, cranny, and length of baseboard has been primed and then painted. Since the ceilings were all sanded and mudded, we have to actually prime those too. I’m going to prime the walls and all of the trim also because I’ve seen the difference a good primer makes beforehand. (Plus, we’re going light and bright with the paint color … so we really need that good, neutral base so as not to throw off the wall color.) Shoe molding goes in this weekend. Then, contractors are finished (for the moment) and next comes the mad rush to start and finish everything resting firmly on our own shoulders. Like: painting the ceilings and walls, painting all of the trim and doors, replacing all of the hardware, installing new light switches and outlets, and new light fixtures all around, etc.

The house already looks so different from when we started … but these updates will change everything! It’s the little things that really make the difference sometimes. We’re getting excited.

So, while I was laying on the hard floor ruining my body, Patrick spent his time upright, walking around. He was fixing and patching walls. And, he did a really good job – he’s become quite the pro at spackling and patching. Some of our walls were a mess – legit mess – from the wallpaper removal. And, they mostly look really good now, and they feel smooth. Painting will cover the spackle, and we won’t even be able to tell where the patches were.

Also, it’s been Spring for a few weeks already here in Ohio (dumb, and the bugs are already out in full force – screw all the people who are excited about not having winter. I think they should all have to live outside in tents during the months of July-September just for being dumb about how 3rd grade science works). But, on a happier note, we have so many daffodils. Like a lot. Rings around the front oak trees, rows in the front garden beds, and a bunch popping up along the back fence.

And we have a pretty tree and yellow bush in the backyard.

And an overabundance of deer – there are tracks all over our yard.

And, SO. MUCH. GINGER. (WTF? Who plants that much ginger? Or is ginger one of those plants that overruns the garden?)

Also, Patrick has turned our garden into a branch cemetery. We’ve had a lot of large branches break off during these “Spring” storms, and the city will take them … but we have to cut them down and pick-up doesn’t start for another month. (See, because typically Spring hasn’t sprung yet. 😐)

We don’t want all of the landscaping boxes and areas that they had … but we are going to see what comes up and try to move & replant some of the good stuff. And, we have some good stuff. 😊

So, this was Saturday morning …And this was the afternoon

This is literally only 1/2 of the ginger … maybe only 1/3 of what’s out there.

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